


You Make Me Bold

by ellejaymac



Series: Boldwood-King [2]
Category: Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)
Genre: Body Worship, Boldwood is a soft boi ok, F/M, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Insecurity, Loss of Virginity, One Shot, Oral Sex, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Sort Of, Wedding Night, he deserves love too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:35:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25087759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellejaymac/pseuds/ellejaymac
Summary: Boldwood has moved on from Bathsheba and taken a wife. But his old hurts continue to follow him and get in his way. Katherine is not having that, and is determined to make him understand that he's desirable.
Relationships: William Boldwood/Original Character
Series: Boldwood-King [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823110
Comments: 7
Kudos: 36
Collections: Shinbi34's Recommendations





	You Make Me Bold

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for clicking! As I say about 12 times a day, Boldwood deserved better than he got. My man deserves to believe he's a SNACC so I wrote a fix-it where he just gets cared for and loved and respected. 
> 
> Boldwood has a lot of insecurities and hang-ups. Very little of it is discussed specifically so I don't expect it to be triggering but consider yourself warned all the same.

William was lying in a doze around the hour of midnight when he fancied he heard the door to his bedchamber open and close again. He sat up in his four-poster bed and squinted into the gloom. Footsteps crept across the room towards him, and he felt the edge of the bed dip as if a person sat on it.

“Who’s there?” he whispered to the darkness.

“It’s me.” came the reply. He recognised the voice of his new wife and released the breath he had been holding. 

“Oh, Katherine! My, you frightened me.” He said with a nervous chuckle. He felt her weight move from the edge of the bed and a moment later the lamp on the end table sputtered into life and illuminated her form. She wore only her nightgown and her brown hair hung free over her shoulders in soft waves. She was so beautiful, he thought with a pang. For far from the first time in the past few days, he regretted trapping her in a marriage to him. He was too old, too stuffy, too boring; he had nothing to offer her but trinkets and the trappings of social status. 

“Is everything all right my dear?” he asked, drawing the plush bed coverings further up his chest as she sat back down. “I hope everything about the house is to your liking?” 

“Oh yes, it’s all so charming! You’ve made me feel so welcome, darling.” She answered, with an easy smile. His chest tightened at the endearment that fell so easily from her lips. He wanted so terribly to believe that she meant it. Of course, he knew that she respected him. Everyone in the area respected him, but Bathsheba had taught him that there was a wide gulf to be bridged between respect and desire. He stiffly returned her smile.

“Then what prompts you to pay me such a late visit?” he asked, then realised the question might have sounded a little inhospitable. “Not that I -” he began to correct himself, but pulled up short again. He didn’t want her to feel obliged to stay either.

“Does a woman need a reason to visit her husband?” Katherine replied with a hint of playfulness in her voice.

“No, of-of course not.” He replied, dropping his gaze to the covers and running a finger along a slightly threadbare section of embroidery. “Just…” he glanced back up at her, “Just curious.” He answered with a tight smile.

Katherine smiled tenderly at him, and before he could object, took one of his hands in hers. She took a deep steadying breath.

“William my dear,” she began. “I understand that a girl of my station could hardly have much to offer a man like yourself - no don’t interrupt me please -” For he had indeed opened his mouth to protest. “But I confess that I was bitterly disappointed when we parted for separate chambers last night. On our wedding night. It wasn’t quite what I had envisioned.” 

William flushed deeply. Of course she had been expecting romance. To be swept off her feet by a dashing, maybe even experienced, older man who knew how to please her. Well, older he may be, but he was certain that that was the only way in which she would not find him a disappointment. 

“And when we parted again tonight, I just didn’t think I could bear another night in that big, empty bed knowing that my husband too slept alone in the next room.” William’s gaze was once again fixed on the coverlet, but he kept a hold of Katherine’s hand. Of course, he knew he couldn’t get away with never consummating their marriage, but he had hoped to delay the moment where she was disabused of her illusions as to his performance for as long as possible. However it seemed as if Katherine had other ideas. 

“William?” He pulled his eyes up to meet hers again and saw that they were ablaze with a fierce determination and...something else perhaps? Something Boldwood struggled to name? “Do you truly love me?” She asked.

“What? Of course I do!” He answered quickly and honestly. He was surprised that she had to ask. He sat up a little taller now and addressed her directly. “My dear Katherine, you amaze me daily with your strength, your wit, your goodness, and your kindness. I have such immense respect for you, and feel so lucky to be able to call you my own at last.” His voice bore the stamp of sincerity, and he smiled with genuine warmth as he praised her.

Katherine smiled at this, though a little sadly. “Thank you darling. But...do you desire me?”

“I-” He flushed again. “My dear, I-....you-....it’s not a matter of...”

“I see…”

“Yes.” he answered hoarsely. “Very much.”

Katherine’s eyebrows rose. 

Before he could object, she brought her lips to his. They had done this before of course, shared chaste kisses on walks around the park, and obviously at the altar on their wedding day. However, this time Katherine did not simply press their closed lips together. After a moment’s kiss that set William’s nerves aquiver, she let her lips part a little and nudged his own apart in the process. She released his hand and moved her own to his cheek, and Boldwood found his own hand mirroring the action to draw her close. 

His pulse quickened when she allowed the tip of her tongue to graze his bottom lip. He returned the action and the taste of her mouth made his head spin and set his skin ablaze. When she pulled away, his mouth tried to follow hers unconsciously and she smiled at him. She climbed fully onto the bed and crawled up her husband’s body so that she was sitting on his lap, though the thick covers of his bed were still between them. She moved her mouth back over his, and William responded by boldly dragging his tongue along her own. He was pleasantly surprised to find that kissing his beautiful wife was calming his anxieties somewhat. However, when Katherine’s hands dragged down his neck and onto his chest, he froze. After a moment, he pulled away, taking her wrists and gently moving her hands off him.

“Katherine, stop, you don’t have to…”

She sat back and frowned at him. “Don’t have to what?”

“You don’t have to pretend to want me like this. You owe me nothing, love.” He patted her hand kindly as he returned it to her own lap.

“You think I am not in earnest?”

William gave a short laugh but there was no mirth in it. “How could you be? I am fourteen years your senior and even in my prime I was hardly a prize. There is a reason I was still a bachelor, and it had little to do with piety.”

“I don’t believe for a second that nobody was ever interested, William.”

“I can assure you if anybody was, I never knew it.”

“Well I am.” 

He scoffed at that.

“Is that so hard to believe? That I might be interested in a well-bred, kind, handsome gentleman?”

Boldwood met her eyes but said nothing in reply.

Katherine reached out her hands again and placed one gently on each of his cheeks. “William. I married you. I love you. I want you. Please believe me. Let me show you.”

He felt a tightening deep inside at her words, and managed to scrape together enough belief in them to nod his consent.

Katherine smiled and kissed him again, immediately moving her hands to their former place on his chest. He returned her kisses a little more nervously than before, but placed his hands tentatively on her waist and was rewarded with a small thrill when, instead of shrinking from his touch as he had half-expected, she leaned into it. He slowly began to relax into their embrace, and when she captured his lip lightly with her teeth he was embarrassed to hear a soft moan escape his mouth. 

Katherine smiled against him and slipped a hand under his pyjama shirt to feel the firmness of his shoulders. The other hand slid up his neck to tangle in his hair, as Katherine moved to kissing his jaw and throat. 

“Katherine I - I have a confession to make.”

She once again pulled back and looked him in the face. This time she seemed impatient, and a little amused.

“What could possibly be so important that it cannot wait until morning? Are you about to confess to some tawdry affair? A fling with a local farm girl?” She teased him, returning to kiss his neck “I don’t care William, I never expected to be your first.”

“Well err...quite the opposite actually. You, ahem…” He cleared his throat awkwardly and looked down at the quilt as she sat up again. “I haven’t ever...well…” he fidgeted once more with the edge of the covers that still lay between them. “I’ve never been with anyone...like this...before...” he trailed off awkwardly, blushing furiously. 

“You haven.t…?” She asked, sounding genuinely taken aback. “Oh…I see...”

“I know by my age most men would have...indulged…” He stammered, still refusing to meet her eye. “But I wanted to wait for...for...the right person...for my wife...Only now that seems like foolishness since here I am with my wife and I can hardly look her in the eye. And she deserves to be loved and taken care of.” he said, frustration evident in his voice as he fidgeted with the embroidered covers.

“Oh William.” Katherine said tenderly, bringing her forehead to rest against his own. “So do you.”

She began to kiss his cheeks then, tracing the line at the edge of his beard and up his sideburns to kiss his temples. “You have such a handsome face, darling husband.” She sat back and gently traced a finger down his straight, pointed nose. “Your nose is so noble.” Boldwood chuckled as she tapped the bulb of his nose. “And your eyes are so beautiful when you smile. Such warmth in the lines that gather around their corners. I hope to see them as often as possible in the coming years, my love.”

She ran her hands through his hair then. “Your hair is so thick, and so soft. And what a lovely, well-kept beard you have too. You must take excellent care of yourself.” 

William didn’t quite know where to look or what to say as she said these things to him, but even he couldn’t miss the evident sincerity in her voice, and it pleased him.

Katherine picked up his left hand then, and lifting it to her mouth, she pressed her lips to his knuckles the way he had done to her own hand in greeting many times before.

“I adore your hands my love. They are strong hands, yet deft. They tie a safe knot as easily as they write in elegant cursive.” She rolled back the sleeve of his pyjama jacked to his elbow and traced a finger up his forearm. “And your arms William. Lord, the thoughts I have about these arms.”

“About my...arms..?”

Katherine smiled. “Yes. Your arms. Have you not noticed how tightly I hold you when we walk together?”

“I must confess I was rather distracted by your close proximity.” He answered with a soft chuckle. “Most of the time I was trying not to trip over myself and bring us both tumbling to the ground.”

Katherine smiled warmly at him. Bringing her hands to the top button of his pyjama jacket, she paused. “May I?”

William hesitated for a moment, his fears of her rejection returning. But her kindness and patience so far had given him a boost of confidence, and he nodded. He held her gaze as she undid his buttons, holding his breath without realising. When the last button had been opened, she dropped her gaze to his exposed torso and pressed a kiss to his sternum, and he exhaled slowly. She pressed her palms to his chest, then slid them up his shoulders, pushing the jacket down his arms. Boldwood shrugged the garment off entirely and Katherine dropped it to the floor by the bed.

“Oh my love, you are so beautiful.” She said simply as she peppered kisses on to his torso. “Would you lie down for me, and let me pull the covers away?”

At this Boldwood protested. “I don’t know that you want to do that. I’m...well…I-”

“I had rather hoped you would be by now dear husband.” Katherine said teasingly. She nuzzled his soft chest hair with her nose and pressed a kiss to one of his nipples, causing him to shiver.

“Well...I suppose...if you don’t object…” He said tentatively. He shifted down from his position leaning against the head of the bed until he was reclining with his head on the pillows, and Katherine pulled the covers to the bottom of the bed. He was clothed only in his pyjama trousers and, as he had tried to warn her, they were stretched tight across his crotch. She paid no attention for now to that part of his anatomy, instead lying next to him and running her hands along his arm, down his sides, across his stomach. She circled his navel with her fingers and he laughed, ticklish all of a sudden. When his laughter subsided she returned to kissing what seemed like every inch of bare skin she could find. She even, much to his surprise, licked a line from his navel to his sternum. He found his hand threading itself into her hair, and he pulled her up into a kiss. He was no longer shy about tasting her mouth, and availed himself of it liberally for a moment, before pulling away.

“Katherine?”

“Yes love?”

“I do feel at a bit of a disadvantage being the only one in a state of undress.” he said.

Katherine grinned mischievously at him. “Ah but I only have one garment on. In order for it to be fair, we would really have to be trading nakedness for nakedness.”

Boldwood blushed again. “I...I suppose that is fair.”

“Well then,” Katherine said, swinging a leg over his belly so that she was straddling him and her nightgown rode up around her thighs. She proffered the hem of her gown. “Would you like to do the honours?”

He ignored the proffered hem, instead opting to run his hands up the backs of her thighs, gathering the nightgown as he went. The smoothness of her skin surprised him, and when he reached her buttocks he rested his hands for a moment, enjoying how perfectly they fit in his cupped hands. Finally, he did take hold of the hem of her gown and pulled it up over her raised arms, letting it fall to the floor. His breath caught in his throat as her body was revealed, and he let his eyes roam hungrily from her flushed face, down to her rounded breasts, the soft swell of her stomach and hips, and the gentle curves of her bottom and thighs. 

“Lord above.” He whispered, bringing one hand to cup her breast while the other settled on her hip. 

Katherine beamed at his utterance, and bent over him to kiss him and run her hands through his curls again.

“Your turn now, dear husband.” she whispered gently against his mouth.

Boldwood once again hesitated. Katherine didn’t seem to notice his hesitation, and slid down his body to hook her fingers into the waistband of his trousers. 

“Wait!” He said suddenly, taking her hands to stop her.

“What is it?”

“Katherine, are you....are you sure? Are you sure that you really want me? You’re not simply...fulfilling your spousal ‘duties’? I couldn’t bear it if you did anything out of a misplaced sense of obligation.”

“William,” she began kindly, though sounding slightly exasperated “I would gladly run through the list of reasons why I desire you until the sun rises, and if that is what it will take for you to believe me, I will. But surely you are impatient to get on to other activities as well? Did you not praise my strength, wit and kindness earlier? Do you think I would lie to you? Please my love, try to relax and trust me. I love you so, and nothing that happens tonight could change that.”

“I love you too, Katherine.” He took a deep steadying breath. “Yes, all right. I’m ready.” 

She pressed a gentle kiss to his belly, and slowly pulled off and discarded his trousers so that they were, at last, naked together. William was surprised to find that he didn’t feel as uncomfortable as he had expected he would, but that his nakedness felt almost more appropriate than being clothed had, since his wife was naked with him. At this moment, they were equals, with no difference of rank or age to separate them.

Katherine ran her hands lovingly down his thighs, pressing a tender kiss to his right hip crease, before returning to lie beside her husband. 

He gathered her into an embrace, and they lay simply holding each other for a moment. William was enjoying the sensation of skin pressed against skin, and her heartbeat gently thrumming against his body. Soon though, his need became hard to ignore. 

“What now?” He asked, surprised and pleased to hear a hint of playfulness in his own voice.

“What would you like to do now?”

Boldwood paused for a moment. While he may not have done this before, he wasn’t completely naive. He had heard talk from labourers on the farm about the sorts of things they got up to with their village sweethearts, and more than one of those conversations had led to him having to excuse himself to deal with “business matters” upstairs. But it was one thing to think things on one’s own, quite another to bring them up to one’s own wife.

Katherine noted his pause. “Why don’t you tell me what you like?”

“What I like?”

“Yes! What do you like to think about when you’re on your own? What kind of touch do you like best on your-”

“Katherine!”

She laughed at his embarrassment. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about William, everybody does it!”

That pulled him up short. “Everybody?” he asked cautiously. “Do...do you?”

“Of course!”

He was sure she would be able to hear cogs turning in his brain. “What do you…” He cleared his throat nervously “What do you think about?”

“All kinds of things.” she whispered, looking unflinchingly into his eyes. “Sometimes about your chest, and what it would feel like to rest my head on or kiss it. Sometimes I think about your arms, and what it would feel like to be carried by them, or be held by them. Often, simply what you would feel like inside me.”

At that William thought he might well burst into flames right there on the bed. Instead, he kissed her again, a futile attempt to quell the thirst that was growing inside him every second.

“Show me.” he murmured, surprising himself.

Katherine seemed unperturbed his request. She took a hand from where it had been resting on his side and snaked it between her legs. Keeping her eyes locked on her husband, she began to touch herself. The sounds she made were obscene, and William quickly found he wasn’t content to only watch her face.

“I want to see.” He said. He drew back to the foot of the bed for a better view as she rolled onto her back and spread her legs to show him all of herself. With one hand she massaged her breasts, rolling her nipples between the point of her finger and thumb. The other hand was buried in the curls between her legs, and William couldn’t make out in the lamp light what she was doing with it. He was enraptured with the expression on her face. He wished she could see herself in this moment - she was glorious. Without realising, his own hand went to his arousal and he began to stroke himself in time with her breaths. 

Katherine opened an eye and immediately pouted at him. “Now now William, that wasn’t the point of this. If you need something to do with your hands, come here.” She said, patting the space on the bed beside her. He blushed but scrambled to join her. Once he was settled, she gave him the hand that had been between her legs to kiss, which he did enthusiastically. He was even bold enough to lick her fingertips, getting another thrill of pleasure from tasting her arousal. She smiled to see him beginning to relax.

She pulled him into a deep kiss, and at the same time took his hand and guided it down to her folds. She guided his fingers over her clitoris, showing him how much pressure to apply and where. She showed him the right speed, the right way to move so that she made the little noises that he was quickly growing to love. Eventually, she guided his fingers lower and inside her, throwing a leg over his so that she could thrust onto them. He was amazed by the heat of her as he moved his fingers in time with the movement of his tongue in her mouth, but was dismayed to find that his beloved noises had stopped.

“Am I doing something wrong?” he asked, his voice husky.

“Not wrong, no. It’s just a little trickier this way.” She answered. “Try this sort of thing.” She dragged two fingers up and down his side, crooking them at the top of each stroke. He tried his best to emulate her, and he fancied her breath did catch a little. 

“Like this?”

“Yes, better.” She whispered. “Now don’t forget the good Lord gave you two hands.”

He chuckled into her mouth and tried to move his free hand to join the already occupied one, but with them lying on their sides facing each other, the angle was a bit tricky.

“Can we...rearrange ourselves?” he asked, with a hint of awkwardness.

“Of course love.”

Katherine returned to her back, and William shifted back down the bed, eagerly settling himself this time on his stomach between her legs. He quickly replaced his fingers inside her as she placed her legs over his shoulders, then with his free hand he took one of hers and guided it back towards her clitoris with his own. She once again showed him how to pleasure her that way, and once he had gotten used to coordinating that with his new finger trick, Katherine withdrew her hand and fisted it instead in the bedsheets.

"Yes William, just there. Just like that. Yes my love, don't stop!" 

He was elated to hear her pleasure, and continued his ministrations, his excitement building as her breathing quickened and her moans rose in pitch and volume. 

He remembered then something that he had once heard one of the farm hands describe doing to one of the village girls in great detail, that had left him particularly urgently needing to relieve himself. Before he could lose his nerve, he glanced up at Katherine to make sure she was watching him, then lowered his mouth to join his hands. He wasn't at all sure how to do this, and he was certain he was being quite sloppy, but it seemed to do the trick for her all the same, because very shortly after, Katherine was crying out and clenching around his fingers. He continued to pleasure her through her climax until she stilled his hand. 

"Enough my love, I need a rest." she said softly, taking hold of his hair and gently tugging him up to lie beside her again, where she pulled him into another open-mouthed kiss. 

Boldwood couldn't believe that kissing could feel as good as it did now, naked, in the arms of his wife and with her taste mingling between them. His shame had been burned away by the pleasure on her face as he touched her. He was wholly convinced that that, at least, she would not lie about. He pressed her close to his body, and became increasingly aware that he was in need of attention too as his hardness pressed between them. Katherine did not miss the fact, and nudged him gently to lie on his back. 

“William love, will you talk to me now about how to please you?”

His embarrassment was gone now, and he didn’t hesitate to answer. “You simply being here pleases me, Katherine.” She opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off. “I know what you meant and I will answer you, I just need you to know that. You could never disappoint me.”

She kissed him gently on the end of his nose and he chuckled affectionately.

“Perhaps I could...show you how? Like you showed me?”

“That sounds like an excellent idea.” Katherine answered, placing a hand on his belly ready to be guided. Boldwood took it gently, a hint of nerves returning and his muscles tightening as he moved their hands onto his hard member, covering her dainty fingers with his own thicker ones. He held them still for a moment, getting used to the strangeness of someone else’s touch. Then he gently squeezed her hand and began to move. As she had, he showed her the kind of pressure he enjoyed, the way to twist her wrist just so, so that his breath caught in his throat and a low moan escaped him. He watched her face carefully for any sign that she was uncomfortable, but she seemed only fascinated. When she looked up and met his gaze, he saw hunger in her eyes and knew she was seeing it in his too. 

“What do you think about, when you do this alone?” she asked, her voice low.

“Oh, all sorts. None of it suitable for a maid’s ears.” he answered softly.

She stretched her head as close to his as she could and whispered “What about a wife’s?”

At that he shuddered, and grasped the base of his cock tightly in their linked hands lest the night end too early. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, his composure returning. “I...I think about this.” he confessed, his eyes still closed. “About your hands on me, or mine on you. I imagine your breasts sometimes, though reality far outstripped my imagination there.” He cocked a smile as he said this. “Once or twice I...no....” he stopped himself, but that only seemed to pique her interest more.

“Go on. Tell me.” She looked resolutely into his face and he glanced away.

“Your mouth. I think about your mouth on me.” a hint of shame returned and he blushed, but Katherine’s eyes showed only desire.

“Can I? Now?”

“You don’t have to do that, my dear, really.”

“I know, but I want to. Can I?”

Boldwood swallowed nervously. He had put his mouth on her, and hadn’t even asked first. There was nothing wrong about this, but he was still hesitant. Katherine was pressing soft kisses to his chest as he considered it, and the open love and care she was displaying eventually won him round.

“Yes. All right.”

She looked up and beamed at him, and his heart leapt in response. What had he done to deserve such a wife? She released his cock from her grasp, moving both of her hands to stroke firmly across his chest and down his sides, calming his nerves as he took a deep, steadying breath. She continued to pepper kisses across his chest and down his stomach. When she reached his navel she dipped her tongue inside and his muscles tightened in response, but no laugh escaped him now. She made her way lower until he could feel her breath on him. She took him in hand again, pausing to look up and check in once more.

“All still well?” she asked, the tip of her tongue coming out to lick hungrily across her lower lip.

William could only nod, his voice seemingly abandoning him. Katherine smiled reassuringly and placed her free hand on his right hip, grounding him. She placed a ‘chaste’ kiss to the sensitive head of his cock that made him shudder from head to toe, then licked a flat line from base to tip. His hips jerked involuntarily as she did and he was grateful for her steadying hand on her hip. She drew her tongue along him again and William groaned and covered his face with his hands, certain that he had died and gone to heaven. God, nothing he had imagined had ever come close to the reality of this. He felt raw, like everything he had hidden over the years, every emotion, every feeling, every nerve ending had been dragged into the open. He realised he was trembling and drawing in shaking, panting breaths as he drew his hands away from his eyes. He looked down at his wife in time to see her take the whole head into her mouth, drawing her lips over him. 

“Oh God, Katherine I-” he said hoarsely, taking a handful of her hair and gently pulling her off him. “I can’t wait any more. I need to have you.”

“You have me, my love. All of me.” A low rumbling growl came from William at this, surprising himself. He gently pulled her up so she was lying on top of him, then flipped them over quickly. Catherine let out a small nervous giggle of surprise which he quickly swallowed with his kiss, lowering himself onto his elbows and holding his body just above her. She wrapped her legs eagerly around his waist and pulled him closer, as he kissed and sucked her throat hungrily. He found himself hoping that she would bear marks in the morning. That she would have to wear high collars for weeks to cover them. Or, even more tantalising, that she would wear them proudly and openly. That all of Weatherbury - all of Dorset even - would know that she was his.

He kissed his way up to her ear and nibbled softly on the earlobe, drawing out one of his favourite sounds from his wife. “Are you ready, love?” He whispered, using one hand to line himself up with her entrance. 

“Yes, yes William. Please.” She answered shakily.

He needed no further encouragement, and slid slowly inside, taking his time, until they were fully joined. He rested his forehead against hers and breathed deeply as they both adjusted to the unfamiliar feeling. His curls were damp with sweat and stuck to his forehead, and Katherine’s skin was slick all over. 

William drew in one more deep breath before returning his lips to hers. He drew back a little, then thrust his hips forward, and he and Katherine moaned in unison. He was pleasantly surprised to find that this too, felt natural and instinctive. Setting a relaxed pace at first, he paid careful attention to his wife, noting the ways he could move that made her gasp or groan. He found one particular angle that seemed to go down very well, and tried to stick to it, increasing his pace as he climbed towards his release. It was approaching quickly, and he realised with dismay that he was going to finish before his wife. He tried to move a hand between their legs to please her as he had earlier, but the angle was awkward, he had to twist his wrist strangely and his hand got in the way of his thrusts. Katherine gently moved his hand away and, kissing him softly, said “Love please don’t worry about it, just enjoy yourself. Plenty of time for that later.” William huffed in frustration at himself but took her advice, picking up his pace as the pitch of his moans rose. A few thrusts later and he was spilling into her with a soft cry, his face buried in her shoulder.

They lay still joined for a few minutes as they caught their breath, before Boldwood drew out of her and rolled onto his back, drawing her against his side. They were both sweaty and trembling, and he felt a deep weariness settle in his limbs as they lay together. “Well, that was…” he began, not knowing how he intended to finish.

“Heavenly?” Katherine supplied, smiling sweetly and sleepily at him.

“Heavenly.” he agreed.

With a soft kiss to her temple, he reached across to extinguish the lamp, then pulled the covers over them and drew his wife into his weary arms. In the darkness they lay together, caring little about the dampness of sweat in the bed or the stickiness between them. William tucked himself in along Katherine’s back and pressed soft kisses to the nape of her neck as they drifted off to sleep, and dreams of their married lives that stretched before them.


End file.
